1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor chip assembly, and more particularly to a semiconductor chip assembly in which a semiconductor chip is mechanically and electrically connected to a support circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor chips have inpuvoutput pads that must be connected to external circuitry in order to function as part of an electronic system. The connection media is typically an array of metallic leads (e.g., a lead frame) or a support circuit (e.g., a substrate), although the connection can be made directly to a circuit panel (e.g., a mother board). Several connection techniques are widely used. These include wire bonding, tape automated bonding (TAB) and flip-chip bonding.
Wire bonding is by far the most common and economical connection technique. In this approach, wires are bonded, one at a time, from the chip to external circuitry by thermocompression, thermosonic or ultrasonic processes. In thermocompression bonding, fine gold wire is fed from a spool through a clamp and a capillary. A thermal source is swept past an end of the wire to form a wire ball that protrudes from the capillary. The chip or capillary is then heated to about 200 to 300xc2x0 C., the capillary is brought down over an aluminum pad, the capillary exerts pressure on the wire ball, and the wire ball forms a ball bond on the pad. The capillary is then raised and moved to a terminal on the support circuit, the capillary is brought down again, and the combination of force and temperature forms a wedge bond between the wire and the terminal. Thus, the connection between the pad and the terminal includes the ball bond (which only contacts the pad), the wedge bond (which only contacts the terminal) and the wire between the bonds. After raising the capillary again, the wire is ripped from the wedge bond, the thermal source is swept past the wire to form a new wire ball, and the process is repeated for other pads on the chip. Thermosonic bonding is similar to thermocompression bonding but adds ultrasonic vibration as the ball and wedge bonds are formed so that less heat is necessary. Ultrasonic bonding uses aluminum wire to form wedge bonds without applying heat. There are many variations on these basic methods.
TAB involves bonding gold-bumped pads on the chip to external circuitry on a polymer tape using thermocompression bonding. TAB requires mechanical force such as pressure or a burst of ultrasonic vibration and elevated temperature to accomplish metallurgical welding between the wires or bumps and the designated surface.
Flip-chip bonding involves providing pre-formed solder bumps on the pads, flipping the chip so that the pads face down and are aligned with and contact matching bond sites, and melting the solder bumps to wet the pads and the bond sites. After the solder reflows it is cooled down and solidified to form solder joints between the pads and the bond sites. Organic conductive adhesive bumps with conductive fillers in polymer binders have been used in place of solder bumps, but they do not normally form a metallurgical interface in the classical sense. A major advantage of flip-chip bonding over wiring bonding and TAB is that it provides shorter connection paths between the chip and the external circuitry, and therefore has better electrical characteristics such as less inductive noise, cross-talk, propagation delay and waveform distortion. In addition, flip-chip bonding requires minimal mounting area and weight which results in overall cost saving since no extra packaging and less circuit board space are used.
While flip chip technology has tremendous advantages over wire bonding and TAB, its cost and technical limitations are significant. For instance, the cost of forming bumps on the pads is significant. In addition, an adhesive is normally underfilled between the chip and the support circuit to reduce stress on the solder joints due to thermal mismatch between the chip and the support circuit, and the underfilling process increases both manufacturing complexity and cost. Furthermore, the solder joints exhibit increased electrical resistance as well as cracks and voids over time due to fatigue from thermo-mechanical stresses. Finally, the solder is typically a tin-lead alloy and lead-based materials are becoming far less popular due to environmental concerns over disposing of toxic materials and leaching of toxic materials into ground water supplies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,967 discloses a method of providing a raised contact portion on a microcircuit. A wire ball is formed on a wire end by applying thermal energy, the wire ball is pressed against a contact area on the microcircuit using thermocompression or thermosonic wire bonding to form a ball bond, a weakened area of the wire is created near the ball bond, and the wire is severed at the weakened area to provide a raised contact portion on the contact area. The contact portions thus obtained are relatively simple and economical compared to electroplated bumps. However, the contact portions do not yet provide an electrical connection to a support circuit. In order to make this connection, additional process steps are necessary, such as thermocompression bonding the contact portions to TAB inner leads, or disposing a conductive adhesive between the contact portions and bond sites in a flip-chip arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,192 discloses a method of bonding chips to support frames by providing ball bonds on chip pads using wire bonding, planarizing the ball bonds, coating the planarized ball bonds with conductive epoxy, and then registering and bonding the conductive epoxy to corresponding conductive patterns on support frames. Thus, multiple process steps are necessary to electrically connect the chips to the support frames after forming the ball bonds. In addition, care must be taken to ensure that the epoxy does not flow excessively and cause shorting between the leads.
Conductive adhesives that electrically connect pads on chips to conductive traces on support circuits are well-known in the art. As mentioned above, organic conductive adhesive bumps with conductive fillers in polymer binders have been used, but they do not normally form a metallurgical interface in the classical sense. Moisture penetration through the polymer binder may induce corrosion or oxidation of the conductive filler particles resulting in an unstable electrical connection. Furthermore, the polymer binder and the conductive filler may degrade leading to an unstable electrical connection. Thus, the conductive adhesive may have adequate mechanical strength but poor electrical characteristics.
In view of the various development stages and limitations in currently available semiconductor chip assemblies, there is a need for a semiconductor chip assembly that is cost-effective, reliable, manufacturable, provides excellent mechanical and electrical performance, and complies with stringent environmental standards.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor chip assembly with a chip and a support circuit that provides a low cost, high performance, high reliability package.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a convenient, cost-effective method for manufacturing semiconductor chip assemblies as chip scale packages, chip size packages, ball grid arrays or other structures.
The present invention accomplishes these objectives by providing a ball bond connection joint between the chip and the support circuit.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a semiconductor chip assembly includes a semiconductor chip with a conductive pad, a support circuit with a conductive trace, and a ball bond that contacts and electrically connects the conductive trace and the pad.
Preferably, the conductive trace extends above and overlaps the pad, an insulative adhesive is disposed between and contacts the conductive trace and the pad, the ball bond and the adhesive are the only materials external to the chip that contact the pad, and the ball bond and the adhesive are the only materials that contact both the conductive trace and the pad.
It is also preferred that the support circuit includes an insulative base, conductive trace includes a pillar and a routing line, the pillar is horizontally offset from the ball bond and extends from the base and includes a distal end that faces away from the chip, and the routing line is flat and provides horizontal routing between the pillar and the ball bond.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing the semiconductor chip assembly includes forming the ball bond on the conductive trace and the pad using thermocompression or thermosonic wire bonding.
Preferably, the method includes mechanically attaching the chip to the support circuit using the adhesive and then forming the ball bond.
The method may also include using a capillary to press a wire ball onto the conductive trace then onto the pad, continuing using the capillary to press and deform the wire ball into the ball bond that alloys with and welds to the conductive trace and the pad, and then withdrawing the capillary so that the ball bond cools and forms a solid connection joint that electrically connects the conductive trace and the pad.
An advantage of the present invention is that the semiconductor chip assembly need not include TAB leads or solder joints. Another advantage is that the assembly can be manufactured using conventional wire bonding equipment. Still another advantage is that the assembly can be manufactured using low temperature processes which reduces stress and improves reliability. A further advantage is that the assembly can be manufactured using well-controlled wet chemical processes which can be easily implemented by circuit board, lead frame and tape manufacturers. Still another advantage is that the assembly can be manufactured using materials that are compatible with copper chip and lead-free environmental requirements.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be further described and more readily apparent from a review of the detailed description of the preferred embodiments which follows.